tulips and shutters.

I am totally loving the V-day tulips that my sweet hubs got me!

 It's so awesome how they continue to grow

and open up after they are cut and put in a vase!

My Valentine also gave me another awesome treat:

He installed the new shutters that he so craftily built!

A total surprise to come home to!

I'll share pics soon!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

baby charlee.

Three weeks ago my dear friend Jordan had to have an emergency C-section and

baby Charlotte Kate (Charlee) joined us 6 weeks before her due date.

At 3 lbs. 7 ounces she had to stay in the NICU and is still there, being

cared for and gaining weight ounce by ounce.

the baby shower for the "mother to bee" was this past weekend

 and it went really well. Mommy and baby

 received so many sweet things!

We had fun putting together the table of goodies...

We also did a blessing table for baby Charlee...



Also...I made a blessing for Charlee, printed it out on cardstock,

 and framed it so Jordan can hang it in her room...

 

There were so many precious people that came to the

shower to celebrate and bless Jordan and Charlee!

thankfully sweet little Charlee is doing much

better after three weeks of care and growth!

She is up to 4 lbs and should be coming

home in the next week!

I'm just so thankful for this sweet little angel

and can't wait to love on her some more!

our exterior before and afters.

Big News!

We finished painting the siding on the

exterior of out home this past weekend! Woo Hoo!

It was a huge project...

9 months of scraping, sanding, priming, caulking, and painting!

I wish I had taken more before pics but here are a few:

The gray/brown paint on the wood siding was cracked, brittle and peeling off...

BEFORE

Here's a close up of one of the big front windows...

they were painted peachy tan and a mess:

BEFORE

you can't really tell that well but all of the paint along the

 front which faces West was just bubbled up and flaking

off if you just ran your hand across it...

and take note of the adorable drooping rain gutter:

BEFORE

BEFORE

BEFORE

 Here are some pics of after we scraped off most of the loose paint:

and here are some pics of it primed (we used a tinted primer): 

goodness gracious these pictures are rough...

but it has to get worse before it can get better!:)

yes, it only had primer on it through the Christmas Season :)

still just primed:

At one point the hubs removed the entire front door to level it...

it's kind of a weird feeling having your front door leaning against

your porch and to just have a gaping hole in the front of your house!

 we then completed the garage door and I wrote about it here

Once we completed the painting we installed our new porch lights:

and finally here are some after pics!
 We still haven't installed the new shutters but
I just couldn't wait any longer to share pics! :)...

It's feeling a little bare naked with pathetic winter grass, lack of landscaping
 and no shutters, but it sure is a GREAT feeling to have the main
part of this curb appeal project completed!!!

Now we need to prime, paint, and install our new shutters (built by handy hubs!)

Right now I'm thinking we will be painting the
new shutters black to match the front door...
thoughts or reccommendations are appreciated!!

hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

light it up!

The hubs installed the new front porch lights this weekend!

and I LOVE them!!!

I love the contrast of the black against the newly painted siding!

and now the glossy black front door has some buddies:)

and of course here's a before pic...for comparison:

BEFORE

AFTER

For a while there I was debating on whether or not to get this

 fixture because of the size, I thought it might be too big,

but it turns out - the existing fixture was just WAY too small (and ugly :)

and you might be noticing the oh so completed paint job

on the widows, eaves and siding! I'll post more on that later.

such a good feeling to come home to this...

hope you all have a wonderful Monday!